Blue Dragon

forty centimetres long. He touched an end of the wire to each contact on the bulb and it lit up. He removed the wire and the bulb went out.
    ‘As long as the wire is long enough, I can get anything working,’ my father said with pride. ‘And I can’t be electrocuted, it’s like the voltage can’t hurt me. But sometimes when the Tiger’s in the room, everything goes haywire. I’ve had to put in overload circuits, because just his presence blows things up.’
    ‘Do you think it’s him generating the power?’ I said. ‘He’s Metal, you know.’
    ‘I’m damn sure it’s him,’ my father said. ‘When he’s away for more than a couple of weeks we have a definite brownout in the supply. But there seems to be enough lingering electricity to keep everything working for a while.’
    ‘Dad’s keeping himself busy. Are you okay?’ I asked my mother.
    ‘We’re all fine,’ she said with a smile. ‘I made friends with some of the wives, the ones who are slightly closer to my age. I joined a few of the clubs—mah jong, the book club, and the needlework club. I’ve made somereally good friends; some of the wives are delightful.’ Her eyes sparkled at me. ‘I’m having a great time actually. Amanda’s helping in the crèche, and Alan’s negotiating some travel insurance policies for the travelling wives.’
    ‘What about Jennifer and Leonard?’ I said, more softly.
    My parents both laughed. ‘Jennifer’s having a ball,’ my mother said. ‘She’s acting as liaison between the Tiger’s clothing stores here in the palace and the fashion houses on the Earthly Plane, flitting backwards and forwards between here and Paris and Rome and New York, having the time of her life. Leonard’s doing some legal work for the Tiger that he said should have been sorted out over five hundred years ago.’ She shrugged. ‘Everybody’s happy and busy.’
    Her face went strange and she glanced at my father. My father’s face went rigid as well and I looked from one of them to the other. ‘What?’
    They didn’t say anything.
    ‘What?’
    My father looked down at his hands on the table. ‘We were making plans to retire anyway, Emma. We’re thinking about staying here.’ He glanced up at me. ‘There’s precedent, you know: there are a few human families here, helping the wives run the palace. It’s a big job. We love it here. There are some…’ He hesitated, and took a deep breath. ‘Some advantages to staying here, as well.’
    My mother looked down too. ‘We never get ill. We’ll live about twice as long as ordinary people—’
    ‘You’ll live longer on the Celestial Plane?’ I said sharply, interrupting. ‘I didn’t know that.’
    Both of them nodded. My mother looked up at me. ‘Of course, that means that once we reach a certain age, if we return to the Earthly Plane it will kill us.’ She smiled and shrugged. ‘Shangri-La. “Lost Horizon”.’
    ‘I am going to kill him,’ I said. ‘He never told me that, and if I can live longer then there’s more of a chance for us.’
    My parents were obviously amused at my reaction.
    ‘We’d like to stay here,’ my mother said. ‘What do you think?’
    I stopped to consider what this would mean for us. I’d still be able to visit them; they seemed truly happy; and I was planning to move to the Mountain on the Celestial Plane myself, eventually, anyway.
    I shrugged. ‘If that’s what you want, I’m happy for you. You can go home any time you like if you change your minds. We will look after you. What about Amanda and Jennifer and their families?’
    ‘Amanda and Alan want to go home,’ my father said. ‘Jennifer and Leonard want to stay here, but Leonard says it’s up to John, because he’s John’s Retainer.’
    My mother became very serious. ‘We didn’t realise when we met John. He’s so…’ She searched for the word. ‘He’s so powerful . Everybody speaks his name, “Xuan Wu, the Emperor Zhen Wu, the Dark Lord”, with awe. I mean, the Tiger’s a god, but Xuan Wu’s…’ Her voice drifted off.
    ‘John’s like more than a god,’ my father finished for her. ‘Some of the things he’s supposed to have done over the centuries defy belief. He’s supposed to have defeated an entire demon army single-handed. He’s the Tiger’s boss, and the Tiger himself is incredibly powerful. The Tiger says he would be deeply honoured to have us stay here, as your parents.’
    ‘John’s a force of nature,’ I said. ‘And a normal